No international travel for charged reptile collector Cullen

A Milwaukee reptile collector facing charges of sexual assault and improper storage of animals won't be visiting southeast Asia and South Africa until he can provide more detail about such trips, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Terry Cullen was charged in May 2010, but his case has moved very slowly, as the defense litigates numerous issues.

On Wednesday, he was before Circuit Judge David Borowski on a request to travel abroad. Cullen's attorney, Lew Wasserman, indicated that despite the pending criminal charges, Cullen remains a leading expert on crocodilians, and gets asked to speak or get involved with reptile rescues around the world.

But since his passport was seized upon his arrest last year, it has expired. He has applied for a new one, but since he doesn't yet have it, or know with certainty when it will arrive, Wasserman said, it has been hard for Cullen to make the kinds of specific travel arrangements and itineraries both the prosecutor and Borowski said would be required before the request would merit serious consideration.

Assistant District Attorney Sara Lewis said she would like oppose Cullen's travel abroad even if he could provide detailed itineraries. She said any of Cullen's numerous contacts in the international crocodilian community could decide to harbor him if he decided to skip facing trial on the criminal charges here.

Borowski said he would reconsider Cullen's travel request if and when he obtains a passport and can explain exactly where he wants to go, when, and why.

Borowski also granted a stay of the rest of the case, pending an appeal by Cullen over the validity of the search warrants that led to discovery of the hundreds of snakes, crocodiles, turtles and other creatures at two properties Cullen controlled in Milwaukee.
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